LULAC hosts Mexican Independence day parade to raise scholarship funds, kickoff Hispanic Heritage Month

EAST MOLINE, Ill. (KWQC) - With Hispanic Heritage Month kicking off on September 15, LULAC hosted their annual Mexican Independence day parade in East Moline Sunday.

“The event started in 2009, 12 years ago, and then my husband was the one who came up with the vision and I kind of stepped in to help with the organization,” LULAC #5285 Council President Juanita Zertuche said, “It has been a very humbling experience to see the growth, to see the support of this community, most importantly to see the support of the goal and the mission.”

With a parade, fiesta, food vendors, and live music, the goal of the event is to raise money for scholarships. The grand total raised broke the 6-digit mark in 2020.

“We are at $100,220,″ Zertuche said, ”We have reached 152 local students to pursue higher education so that’s a very humbling experience.”

“It gives us great pride and it makes all this work worthwhile, that’s the reason we do it, for the students, it’s not for anything else but the students to make sure our kids get some help to go to college or trade school or whatever they want to do,” Zertuche added.

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